With national concern looming about the future of health care coverage, local advocates plan to bring seven Missouri health care experts together on Monday to inform residents of their role under the congressional health care policies.
Starting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jefferson City residents are invited to attend a health care forum at Martin Luther King Hall on Lincoln University's campus to listen and voice their concerns regarding potential changes in their coverage.
The forum will be held inside Thomas Pawley Theater at 812 E. Dunklin St.
Mary Schantz, one of the facilitators, said the forum will be a chance for residents to understand how the proposed legislation could affect people in Jefferson City.
"The purpose is to have a discussion about the upcoming reforms in order to help everyone have a better understanding," Schantz said.
Speakers will provide an overview of what the Affordable Care Act currently does for the state, what changes hospitals had to undertake when the ACA was enacted, and the kinds of changes the proposed legislation might bring.
"We want the audience to be a part of the discussion in hopes of building a consensus on ways Jefferson City residents can get involved, whether it be through legislative activity, forming a health task force," Shantz said.
The panel includes Randy Haight, vice president of medical staff affairs at Capital Region Medical Center; Stephen Stewart, regional vice president of medical affairs at St. Mary's Hospital; Nancy Howe, physician at the Community Health Center; Rebecca McClanahan of the Missouri Nurses Association; and John Lyskowski, psychiatrist at St. Mary's Hospital.
Ryan Barker, vice president of health policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health; Ed Weisbart, chair of the Missouri Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Care Program; and Jay Angoff, former director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, will also sit on the panel.
Weisbart said his goal is to discuss long-term strategies that could help keep health care affordable across the state.
Under the proposed new legislation, approximately 250,000 Missourians could lose health care coverage, according to the Missouri Budget project.
"We need to set the agenda to provide health care for all," Weisbart said.